When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? ’The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labour is not in vain. (1Corinthians 15: 54-58)

The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law.

How might sin be the sting of death? Perhaps in a fuller self-awareness of the harm we have done others. In becoming another we will be able to perceive our lives more broadly and completely. For me, at least, it will be painful to see the full impact of my sins of commission and omission.

How is the law the power - dunamis - of sin? How is the law the origin of sin?

The quote is from Hosea 13 drawn from Septuagint Greek, not the original Hebrew. The prophet is warning of relentless judgment on Israel for its idolotries. Israel had forsaken the law. So how is the law also a source of sin?

In the next chapter of Hosea proclaims the word of God: "I will heal their disloyalty; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily, he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon. His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree, and his fragrance like that of Lebanon. They shall again live beneath my shadow, they shall flourish as a garden; they shall blossom like a vine, their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon." (Hosea 14: 1-7)

It is not the law that saves Israel, it is the free love of God. The sinners do not heal themselves by observance of the law. God heals them despite their persistent iniquity. Israel does not earn God's blessing. God blesses Israel in an expression of pure grace.

Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.